Zoids: Chaotic Century Episode 29
'Heroes of the Sky' Heroes of the Sky is the twenty-ninth episode from the animated series Zoids: Chaotic Century based on TOMY's and Zoids model franchise. Overview The episode starts showing Red River Base, equipped with a run way to launch flying Zoids. Here, Herman, O'Connell, and Dr. D await the arrival of Rosso and Viola. The former bandits arrive and have a short exchange with Herman before getting ready to load into the Storm Sworder Zoids stationed at the site. O'Connell is a little uncertain, asking if Rosso and Viola can be trusted. Herman soon answers, saying that they are capable pilots, and Dr. D adds that it was a good thing they managed to save them. The Storm Sworders are launched from the run way, with Herman, O'Connell, and Dr. D watching from the ground. Elsewhere, Van and company, heading through a series of canyons, are still trying to reach Guygalos, the capital of the Guylos Empire. Moonbay reasons that they take the long way around, since there are few military bases along that route. Van wants to take a short cut, but Irvine warns him that he recalls an Imperial air base on that path. Rudolph confirms, telling them that the small air base is named Ebonay--but there are only two Redlers stationed there. Van argues his opinion again, that he wants to take the short route. But Irvine is more weary, saying that they shouldn't do anything to catch the attention of the Imperial military, because Rudolph could be put in even more danger. Van persists, and he and Irvine end up fighting. Fiona proposes a contest: the first one to reach a previously set goal point wins the race and gets to decide the route for the rest of the way to Guygalos. The group comes to a fork in the road, and Van ends up heading towards Ebonay in his Blade Liger with Fiona and Zeke, while Moonbay and Irvine head the long way around in the Gustav. Rudolph, who was supposed to have gone with Moonbay and Irvine, stowed away with Van, admitting that he'd much rather join Van on an adventure. Near Ebonay base, a practice battle is taking place: Major Schubaltz, in his Zaber Fang SS, faces off against 3 black Redlers from the Eisenbeck unit. The Redlers dive down through the clouds in attack formation, and then Schubaltz splits them apart by firing into the formation using his Gatling Gun. One of the Redler pilots notes that Schubaltz is purposefully keeping the wall of the canyon to his back in order to restrict the firing options of his opponents. Schubaltz, in turn, notices that maneuverability and armor of these new black Redlers are far tougher than those of models he's previously encountered. The battle continues, and Schubaltz, after firing a few more shots, says that he thinks even fire directed by radar would be useless against the speed of the Redlers. He gets ambushed from behind by a pilot called Meuler, but is able to evade by jumping high into the air and shooting down towards the diving Redler. But when the Zaber Fang lands, an officer named Ralph, in one of the other Redlers, dives again, and everyone decides to end the exercise there. When they return to the base, Ralph and Schubaltz strike up a conversation. They look at Ebonay, which has since been loaded with several black Redlers. Ralph says, the Eisenbeck unit has come directly under the control of Prozen, which upsets Schubaltz. Ralph goes on to explain that now, since the Imperial air force has access to the new, improved Black Redlers, they'll be able to deal a lot more damage to the Republicans than ever before. Schubaltz, still upset, argues that there is no justice in a war that results in the suffering of civilians. They talk for a bit more, and Ralph tells Schubaltz that if he wants to continue to keep his job as a Commissioned Officer, he'll have to learn to adapt to the current times. It begins to rain, and Ralph suggests that they take cover. Van nears Ebonay, noticing that base has been modified--there are far more Redlers than he expected. Ralph, from a tower in Ebonay, sees Van approaching the base and orders the deployment of the Eisenbeck unit, saying that the "impostor" that's pretending to be Prince Rudolph has reemerged. At the palace, Lieutenant Hardin addresses Prozen, reporting that Rudolph's "imposter" is near. While the Eisenbeck unit launches, Raven is shown in his Geno Saurer, surrounded by the mutilated bodies of numerous Republican Zoids. He wants to go further into Republican territory to find someone worthy to fight. Rosso and Viola, in the Storm Sworders, call back to Red River Base, reporting that they are in Imperial air space. Herman orders them to come back, saying that their flight tests are complete. However, Viola manages to intercept an Imperial radio signal saying that the "impostor" Rudolph has been spotted near Ebonay. Herman calls them back again, but Rosso interferes with the radio signal, and continues towards Ebonay together with Viola, using the Storm Sworders' boosters to propel them faster. Meanwhile, at Ebonay, Van runs from the Eisenbeck unit. Inside the base, Ralph magnifies an image of Zeke, running beside the Blade Liger. Schubaltz remembers Zeke from before at Red River, recognizing that the accompanying pilot must be Van. But he is a little confused to see that Van isn't piloting a Shield Liger (as he was at Red River) but a Blade Liger. Rudolph feels a little guilty for giving them incorrect information concerning Ebonay. Fiona opens up a channel with Ebonay base so that he can speak to the officers there. Rudolph begs them to halt the attack, and that he's willing to come to them. Schubaltz recognizes Rudolph immediately and salutes him. The two have a brief conversation before Ralph orders the sound to be turned off from the signal. Schubaltz becomes confused, asking why he can no longer hear Rudolph's voice. Ralph tells him that he can't be fooled by some imposter. However, Schubaltz argues back, well aware that was the real Rudolph, not a fake. He then accuses Ralph, saying that he knows its the real crowned prince, but won't stop attacking anyway. After, he is seized by two other officers and held back (also being held back at gunpoint). Ralph says it doesn't matter whether the boy is the real Rudolph or not--either way, he interferes with Prozen's plans. He then orders the termination of the communication channel. Van is still running from the black Redlers, unable to fuse Zeke with his Blade Liger, because stopping to do so would make his organoid an easy target. Fiona says they should head for the forest to take cover--Van agrees. But when Zeke follows them, he gets blasted by a bomb dropped from one of the Redlers. Van turns around, angry, saying that he'll fight them now. The Redlers approach from the front, then Rudolph picks up the motion of one more Redler behind them. However, it is shot down before it can attack. Two Storm Sworders emerge to fight off the rest of the Redlers. Ralph asks why the two Republican Zoids are here, and why they couldn't be detected before they reached the base. An officer answers him, saying that the Storm Sworders came in too quickly from beyond the detection range of their equipment. Viola is easily able to take out most of the Redler's using the Storm Sworder's missiles. Meanwhile, Zeke is able to fuse with the Blade Liger. He makes a run for it, turning on the boosters and escaping the remaining Redlers. Viola then destroys a few more of the Redler's with her Storm Sworder's blades. Van stops, and is addressed by Rosso (who is masked, so he can't be recognized) who asks if Rudolph is alright. Van replies that Rudolph is okay. Back in Ebonay, Schubaltz breaks free after hearing Ralph's orders to pursue Rudolph and hits the base's self-destruct button. Ebonay explodes, and Schubaltz's voice can be heard narrating: he offers his best regards to the Heroes of the Sky, and to Van. He wishes that Rudolph stay safe. At the meeting point, Van and Moonbay's groups meet up again. Rudolph explains that their trip was an amazing adventure. Irvine says that from now on, Van has to listen to his decisions, as was agreed on in the beginning. But Van says he can't remember agreeing to such a thing. Irvine, angered by this, pulls him aside and begins fighting with him again. Moonbay says she's just glad that they came back safely. Rudolph looks up into the sky, and the episode ends with a short scene of Rosso's and Viola's Storm Sworders flying through the air. Zoids *Storm Sworder *Gustav *Blade Liger *Command Wolf *Zaber Fang *Redler 14.jpg 19.jpg 21 (1).jpg 22.jpg 35.jpg 39 (1).jpg 95.jpg 96.jpg Trivia *Several scenes were edited out from the English dub version of this episode. Twice, Karl Schubaltz ends up getting a gun pointed at him by Ralph--both scenes were cut. In addition, a short scene featuring Prozen and Hardin was edited because of nudity (Prozen was bathing). *In the English dub, Van uses the phrase "Holy leaping Ligers!" which is very similar to the saying "Holy cow!" only modified to Zoids terms. *Schubaltz's narration after Ebonay base detonates is exclusive to the English dub; in the Japanese version, he gives a brief acknowledgment before the explosion. *Based on the model stats, the Redler has a top speed in excess of 3600km/h. This is well over 10 times the top speed of the Blade Liger. However, there is no canon reconciliation between the model events and those in the anime. See also: Zoids: Chaotic Century Category:Zoids Anime Category:Chaotic Century Episode